Star Trek Favourite Series

I grew up with the original series (though not when it was originally airing; my uncle would show me episodes of that and other shows like the Outer Limits and the Twilight Zone when he would babysit) and the Next Generation, and I suppose as a result I'm more predisposed to like them. However, Deep Space Nine is probably my favorite, and if not then Next Gen just barely ties it.

Not only did I enjoy the ongoing story arcs (as previously mentioned, a lot of the time Next Gen felt far too episodic in nature) but the character development and interaction was unparalleled. The only things it lacked when held up beside TNG were Patrick Stewart (as much as I like Avery Brooks, he would not uncommonly go into melodrama mode and really ham up his motivational speeches) and John de Lancie. Q was the best recurring character any series of Star Trek ever had, and I wish DS9 used him as much as TNG did. His dialogues with Picard were AWESOME.

I don't think comparing any of the Star Treks to Babylon 5 is really fair in terms of the story arcs each used, because Babylon 5s entire story was written, start to finish, before the show even started being filmed. All of the Star Treks of course, while perhaps keeping a general idea of where they wanted things to go in mind, were written as the show was already underway. Take your favorite piece of fiction and consider how it might have been different if the author were still writing the ending when you were already halfway through.

Something I always enjoyed about DS9 was the ability of the writers, actors, and directors to go off on a wild tangent in the middle of a really heavy story arc with a ridiculous comedy episode. I'll never forget the episode about the baseball game against the Vulcan team the Logicians, and Worf instructing Nog to "find him and kill him" when asked what to do about a Vulcan who stole a base.

Even smaller scenes in otherwise serious episodes (like a certain discussion Quark and Odo have comparing root beer with Federation philosophy) could be side-splitting, and I always appreciated that willingness to work something like that it.

The characters, as I mentioned before, were very well written, and equally as well acted. Sisko's almost imperceptible grins when you could tell he was pleased with himself for strongarming someone into doing something they didn't want to do, Garak's repartees with Bashir, Odo's unspoken friendship with Quark, they were all great.

Next Gen had similar moments, but none as memorable to me, really. Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner totally ruled, though.

Voyager, on the other hand, I thought was terrible. It embarasses me that it was considered to be a show aimed at my age demographic, because I thought it was ridiculous. It was like the god damn Love Boat in space. Every five fucking minutes someone needed to talk about their relationship. Janeways voice didn't help matters either. God. The only saving grace of that catastrophe was the doctor, and shit did he ever kick ass. You could tell those involved with the show realized how much he owned too, 'cause near the end he started getting tons of episodes.

I watched a couple episodes of Enterprise and thought it sucked, so I can't really comment. The only cool thing I saw it do was come up with a sort of reasonable explanation for the deal with the Klingons changing between Next Gen and the original series. Though, I still appreciated Worf's insistence that they "do not speak of it with outsiders" as a perfect response.

And just reading what was written previously, Neelix could seriously fuck off from episode one. Garbage character. He can take that annoying bitch Kes with him, too.

Also, I agree with Wesley Crusher and Jake Sisko needing to join Neelix in exiting their respective series before they ever began.

Jam it back in, in the dark.